Gender and Energy Reform in Pakistan: Lessons from the Developing World 

Society & Culture 2025-2026 High School Essay Contest Winner

Introduction  

On paper, 98% of families in Pakistan are connected to power, but in reality, nearly 60 million people in the country lack direct access to electricity. The national energy crisis has long been a prominent political issue, marked by constant load shedding, skyrocketing prices, and a debt crisis reaching over 2.3 trillion PKR. Yet the real impact of the energy crisis is not the growing debt, but its disproportionate effect on women, whose opportunities for advancement and quality of life have been worsened as a result.

Pakistan ranked last among 148 countries in 2025 on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index, a measure of gender equality across economic, health, and political outcomes. This disparity is evident in the labor force, where only 25% of women participate. The domestic energy crisis greatly exacerbates these issues by limiting women’s access to education, preventing their ability to work, and increasing household and health burdens. Despite these issues, Pakistan continues to treat the energy crisis as something that affects the entire country proportionately in its restructuring efforts. Women are poorly represented in ministerial positions overseeing energy policy, even as electricity costs have increased as much as fourfold in recent years. Learning from the energy advancements of Bangladesh, Kenya, and Burundi—and the inclusion and exclusion of women from those processes—this essay argues that Pakistan’s energy crisis is not gender-neutral, and that solving it without a gender lens will perpetuate existing inequalities. 

An Unfair Issue 

It has been evident throughout the past few decades that women and men feel the impact of electricity shortages differently in Pakistan. The most prominent way women are unfairly affected is through deprived opportunities for advancement in society, of which education is paramount. Javeria Abbas, a research fellow at the International Youth Council on Gender Equality, argues that women disproportionately bear the health and educational burdens associated with electricity outages while men do not face the same issues. Without electricity to cook food or power water pumps, it is women who spend multiple hours gathering firewood or water. The time spent on these electricity-intensive tasks ensures that these women cannot work or attain education. Indeed, girls have far higher dropout rates than boys in Pakistan, which the energy crisis only worsens. 

Further, burning biofuels rather than relying on electricity disproportionately harms these women by increasing rates of respiratory, skin, and eye conditions. And when prices rise, as they have continued to do so over the past few years, women are the ones who end up selling their possessions in order to keep the lights on. For the minority of women who do enter the workforce, the crisis follows them there. 

For women who work, lacking electricity means they lose their jobs. The second largest employment sector for women in Pakistan is manufacturing, which is heavily dependent on energy. In his study of Tajikistan’s energy crisis, postdoctoral economics researcher Adrian Poignant at Gothenburg University finds that women’s employment falls by six percentage points when electricity supply restrictions are in place, while there is no measurable effect on the employment rate of men. Solving the energy crisis would end load shedding and reduce electricity costs, allowing these women to continue working. In turn, this would provide them opportunities not just to advance socially, but to uplift themselves and support their communities. 

Lessons From Other Nations 

The disproportionate issues these Pakistani women face are not unavoidable. Other developing economies have similarly faced declining education rates, health issues, and job losses for women due to unaffordable energy; however, they have made strides in fixing their energy systems to prevent these issues. As shown by various developing nations, structuring energy reform to help these groups is viable and imperative. 

Bangladesh is a nation similar to Pakistan in many ways. Both are greatly populated, primarily Muslim countries with similar cultural norms. In Bangladesh, household electrification rates rose 50% from 2011 to 2019—a significant increase. As a result, women spent 2.5% less time doing unpaid labor and had more time to dedicate to leisure and paid work. Yet this significant increase in energy access still leaves a lot to be desired. Many development programs fail for women in Bangladesh because women are excluded from the creation process. And despite widespread electrification, over 110,000 women still die from biomass-fuel-related incidents. This largely stems from the fact that women make up only 10% of the energy sector in Bangladesh, compared to the global average of 32%. Bangladesh provides a great example of partial success for women following increased energy access but reveals how much more needs to be done to truly close the energy inequity gap. 

Kenya goes beyond simply increasing electricity access and demonstrates that gender reform in the energy sector is possible in a short period. In 2015, USAID collaborated with the Kenyan government to boost gender equality in the country, leading to a 60% increase in women working in the energy sector. The Kenyan Ministry of Energy then carried out gender audits and launched a Gender Policy in Energy in 2019—Africa’s first such policy. This led to measurable improvements such as sex-disaggregated data collection, inclusion of gender considerations in policy, increased institutional attention to equity, and expanded energy access. While Pakistani officials continue to frame the energy crisis primarily as a fiscal and technical dilemma focusing on circular debt, tariffs, and generation capacity, Kenya demonstrates that targeted institutional reforms involving women can produce measurable changes within years. 

Meanwhile, in Burundi, the government backs organizations to promote women working in the energy sector. Through selling solar panels, women gain financial independence and can invest money back into their own households. In turn, this allows girls to go to school, solving the very problem that Pakistan acutely faces. These organizations continue to empower other women-led groups within Burundi, further solving systemic issues long prevalent within Burundian society. Not only do these groups repair the energy inequity gap, but in places where energy has not been formally provided by the government, these women-led or women-owned energy groups bring off-grid solutions to reliably power entire communities without any government infrastructure. 

Together, these cases illustrate a spectrum of positive approaches. Bangladesh shows that even greatly improving energy access cannot fix the fundamental issues that women face, and that women must be integrated into policy-making and entrepreneurship efforts. Kenya displays the importance of the government in realizing that the needs of women and men are different regarding energy, which Pakistan has failed to do. Burundi highlights the importance of funding local movements that allow women to build up their own communities and spread awareness to other women facing similar issues. These examples reveal the severe gaps Pakistan has in its energy approach. Women are largely excluded from energy policy-making, lack funding from private or national groups, and are harmed by a government that has long tried to fix the energy crisis only on a macro level. By involving women in these processes, Pakistan can solve a key component of the national energy crisis. 

Policy Implications 

The most urgent step to take is governance reform. Pakistan needs to greatly increase the number of women in ministerial energy positions, which is currently at a measly 6%. Quotas mandating women’s representation will not only directly address issues women face, but will also boost female political involvement. Without women at the policymaking table, the government’s energy reform efforts will continue to overlook the household burdens and health consequences that are uniquely tied to biomass reliance. Key leaders could replicate Kenya’s success in creating initiatives specifically aiding women through their energy disparity initiatives. 

Secondly, institutional reform is needed. Bangladesh’s failure to create developmental programs due to not training women must not be repeated in Pakistan. Technical training programs in renewable energy installation, grid management, and manufacturing should specifically recruit and subsidize female participation. Vocational institutes should partner with women, especially to teach about off-grid technologies such as solar panels. By implementing these initiatives, employment would increase, and women would face significantly fewer social burdens. 

Finally, on a community level, Pakistan should follow Burundi and fund women-led, decentralized local organizations that know the problems of their communities best. Microfinance programs and grants specifically targeted for these groups have historically been extremely successful. These initiatives would be highly beneficial to the Pakistani government, as Burundi has shown that these initiatives provide energy for local communities without the need for large governmental projects. 

Pakistan stands at a moment of transition in its energy system. This transition will either entrench existing inequalities or begin to dismantle them. A policy decision must be made, and the evidence of what works is clear.

. . .

Zarak Ahmad is a junior at Milton Academy from Canton, Massachusetts. He is passionate about foreign affairs, specifically great power competition, and plans to study international relations in college. Outside of school, he is an avid traveler, language learner, and winner of both of his fantasy football leagues.